


King of the Jungle (Yellow Edition)

by Paladins_Grace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bonding, Cooking is hard with a lion, Lions are turned into real lions, Nightmare, Protective Hunk (Voltron), Protective Yellow Lion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 05:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16033946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paladins_Grace/pseuds/Paladins_Grace
Summary: The lions have been transformed into lions. Snapshots with Hunk and Yellow.





	King of the Jungle (Yellow Edition)

**Author's Note:**

> All mistakes are my own. Also a birthday present. Happy Birthday take 2!

Hunk lifts the spoon to his lips after ensuring his taste buds are going to remain intact- a burned mouth was not conductive to picking out flavours, which was necessary when constantly working with- quite literally- alien ingredients. The stew was coming along nicely, the spices he found a couple planets back complemented the dish. Now where did he- _thunk_. Hunk breathed deeply through his nose and counted to five. _I found them._ Yellow sat beside the counter, in front of him was the spice Hunk had been looking for- scattered all over the ground. The lions had been turned into, well, lions. Regular sized and soft (although they had kept their colouring). Yellow’s tail flicked in a pleased manner- he looked quite proud of himself.

“You did that on purpose,” Hunk accuses, seeing the finishing touch to his stew strewed across the floor physically pained him. The lion’s head tilts to the side. _You wished to find this for your meal. I found it._ A wounded sound escapes Hunk.

“I can’t use it _now_ ,” he feels Yellow’s confusion and groans. “Humans don’t eat off the floor, it’s unsanitary and it can make us sick,” the new information finds Yellow tilting his head before shaking out his mane. _There is still some in the bottle, or there are other containers with small flakes. Use one of them._ Yellow decides dismissively. “That’s not- cooking doesn’t work like that,” Hunk tries to explain. “You can’t just throw in anything, the flavours don’t- that’s not how cooking _works_ ,” Hunk gives up after Yellow offers a mental shrug in lieu of conversation. _Are you almost done? If you had just eaten the food goo we could be lying in the sun right now._ Hunk just groans and collects the spices still in the bottle.

“Trust me, everyone will appreciate this more than the goo,” Yellow moves to sniff the stew curiously while Hunk cleans the spills ingredients. _Smell is an interesting new experience._ Hunk turns, “Hey! No! You’re going to get your mane in it!” Hunk shoos Yellow back. After carefully checking for lion hair he adds the finishing touches and leaves it to simmer. Hunk releases a breath, usually cooking was more relaxing than this, but- he gives a side glance to Yellow- his newest ‘helper’ has been complicating every step. Yellow pads over to headbutt Hunk gently. _Can we lie down now?_

“I need to check the stew in 30 minutes, we’ll find a patch of sunlight after eating,” Hunk promises. Yellow huffs displeased. “Oh c’mon, you don’t want the team to hungry do you?” Hunk persuades. Yellow considers before reluctantly deciding sustenance is important for functioning. “So glad you agree,” Hunk says dryly. The next headbutt is a little harder and sends Hunk falling backwards. Before he can move he finds himself pinned by a smug lion. Knowing the futility of fighting, Hunk settles down to wait. Yellow will move when it’s time to check the stew. Despite his complaints Yellow is a leg- good food does a lot for morale- and he will help with anything that supports the team.

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Nonononononono. He’s trapped and they’re coming and _he can’t breathe_ and- a rough tongue swipes across his face. He’s- he’s on the castle. A purr can be felt from the weight on top of him. It’s warm and soft. Furry, the weight is furry, not galran metal from- Another purr cuts off his thoughts. Golden hair from his lion’s mane tickles his face. _No._ Yellow insists firmly not allowing the nightmare –is it a nightmare if it actually happened- to resurface.

Hunk hugs Yellow like a giant stuffed animal. If he buries his face in the softness he can pretend it never happened. He’s safe now, the team got to him, he’s _safe_. _Safe._ Yellow agrees firmly. The lion stands drawing a plaintive whine from Hunk- he was _warm._ Yellow ignores his paladin’s protest in favour of nudging him up. Hunk’s feelings of betrayal only spur on his lion forcing him to admit defeat.

“Fine, I’m coming,” Hunk sulks. He still isn’t fully _here_ following his nightmare and a short walk might help ground him. A pleased purr rumbles from the space cat and Hunk smiles despite himself. “Alright, where are we going?” Yellow noses Hunk’s hand until it rests in the lion’s mane before leading them off into a random corridor. After a minute of walking Hunk starts rambling. “I always wanted a cat you know- or a dog, but I never really had the time to take care of one. I was thinking about adopting one if I was working primarily on Earth. Lance and I talked about getting a small place just off base once we graduated, it’s pretty common and the garrison even has special deals so their members can live close by. Lance and I have been best friends since we were kids, he forgot his lunch one day and he’d slept through breakfast. I was horrified at the thought of him only eating _one meal_ so I offered him some of mine. Of course his parents showed up to drop off his lunch not long after, but by then we were already best friends. He- woah,” Hunk stops at the sight in front of him. Yellow tosses his head and flicks his tail, obviously pleased with himself. 

“You’re so much better than an Earth cat,” the yellow paladin remarks fondly before moving to examine the room more closely. The ground is soft and earthy with grassy spaces placed strategically throughout, like soft rugs. A lone tree stands in the centre and soft yellow light warms the room from above. There’s a bench press and some free weights tucked into the far left corner. The far right corner has a desk with neatly organized notebooks and pens. The back wall is honeycombed with cubbies containing all manner of materials. A bookshelf is built into the right wall though its collection appears scarce. Further investigation reveals none of the books are written English. Hunk takes it all in reverently. “What is this?” _Last paladin made it._ Yellow explains with a hint of nostalgia. _Yours now._ Hunk kneels down to hug his lion tightly. “Thank you.”

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Battle with _real lions_ was exhilarating. They had to rely on the castle for ships in space, but on the ground they were unstoppable. The lions and their paladins tore through any Galra opposition that came at them. Shiro felt comfortable having everyone split up with only their lion for company to search for any remaining stragglers. Hunk and Yellow were making a last sweep of the city’s underground tunnels when it happened. They were in an abandoned section that hadn’t seen use in years. Yellow smelled them first. _Prey nearby._ He informed Hunk. _Around next bend._ Hunk signalled his ascent mentally not wanting to give their location away. Yellow stopped suddenly pricking and swiveling his ears.

 _What is it?_ Hunk asked looking around cautiously. 

 _Strange sound. Unfamiliar._ Hunk saw what it was a second too late to warn his friend.

“NO!” Hunk cries as he throws himself at Yellow knocking him away from the blast. The beeping mine goes off sending out a shockwave. The old unmaintained tunnel can’t handle the sudden strain and crumbles around them. Chunks of concrete and rock fall impacting Hunk and Yellow. The paladin desperately shields his _very vulnerable- what were we thinking they could get hurt-_ lion’s head before pain erupts throughout his body and darkness overtakes his vision.

The rescue is hazy, he faintly recalls voices of worried teammates and a snarling roar before fading back out. The next time he awakens he’s stumbling out of a pod into the arms of his friends. Yellow is there and _he’s okay, he’s okay_ , _he’s okay._ A night of being surrounded by his family leaves him with a warm glow of contentment. The transition from blissful sleep to unhappy lion is a jarring one in the morning.

 _I protect you._ Yellow growls. Hunk finds himself pinned. “I wasn’t just going to let you get hurt!” He protests as his brain tries to process the sudden turn of events. The resulting growl comes with a show of teeth. _I protect you._ Yellow informs firmly.

“You’re not invincible right now. You could have gotten seriously hurt and I’m not sure you’d be able to use a pod,” Hunk argues back. Yellow mentally narrows his eyes at Hunk. “No. I’m not going to apologize for protecting you,” Hunk says sternly. Yellow rumbles unhappily and a stare down commences. More than twenty minutes pass before Yellow reluctantly allows his human up. Hunk huffs fondly as his lion stays close for the rest of the day. He’s going to miss this when they manage to undo the transformation.

 


End file.
